Nonwoven elastic fabrics have been the subject of considerable attention and effort. Elastic fabrics are desirable for use in bandaging materials, garments, diapers, supportive clothing and personal hygiene products because of their ability to conform to irregular shapes and to allow more freedom of body movement than fabrics with limited extensibility.
Elastomeric materials have been incorporated into various fabric structures to provide stretchable fabrics. In many instances, such as where the fabrics are made by knitting or weaving, there is a relatively high cost associated with the fabric. In cases where the fabrics are made using nonwoven technologies, the fabrics can suffer from insufficient strength and only limited stretch and recovery properties.
Elastomers used to fabricate elastic fabrics often have an undesirable rubbery feel. This is particularly true with thermoplastic elastomers rather than crosslinked elastomers. When these materials are used in composite nonwoven fabrics, the hand and texture of the fabric can be perceived by the user as sticky or rubbery and therefore undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,579 to Hagy, et al. discloses desirable composite elastic nonwoven fabrics containing staple textile fibers intimately hydroentangled with an elastic web or an elastic net. One or more webs of staple textile fibers and/or wood pulp fibers can be hydroentangled with an elastic net according to the disclosure of this invention. The resulting composite fabric exhibits characteristics comparable to those of knit textile cloth and possesses superior softness and extensibility properties. The rubbery feel traditionally associated with elastomeric materials can be minimized or eliminated in these fabrics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,623 to Pieniak discloses a laminated structure such as a disposable diaper which can incorporate an elastic net into portions of the structure. The elastic net can be inserted in a stretched condition between first and second layers of the structure and bonded to the layers while in the stretched condition. Subsequent relaxation of the elastic net can result in gathering of the structure.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,407 to Ness discloses elastic fabrics which include an elastic member, which may be an elastic net, intermittently bonded to a substrate which prior to stretching is less easily extensible than the elastic member. The nonelastic member is bonded to the elastic member and the entire composite is rendered elastic by stretching and relaxation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,964 to Wideman discloses a bulked composite web which can be prepared by bonding a gatherable web to a differentially stretched elastic net. Subsequent relaxation of the differentially stretched net is said to result in gathering of the fabric.
These and other elastic nonwoven fabrics and the processes for manufacturing them can suffer from various disadvantages. In some instances, the fibers are not firmly anchored into the composite web so that following repeated stretch and relaxation, fiber shedding and pilling can be problematic. In other instances, the nonwoven net is insufficiently integrated into the composite fibrous structure so that separation of the net can occur and/or the fabric can lose elastic properties. In other instances, the fabric exhibits a low extensibility which is well below the possible extensibility afforded by the elastic net. In addition, the manufacturing processes associated with prior art fabrics can involve complicated and difficult manufacturing steps increasing the cost of the fabric and/or decreasing the fabric uniformity.